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Botanix Labs will wind down its Bitcoin layer-2 network in July after nearly four years of work, saying the project did not find enough demand for Bitcoin-based DeFi to support the business.
The company has asked users to withdraw assets before July 1. Its wind-down post sets July 1 as the first target date, followed by a two-week grace period to July 15. A final shutdown could follow by Aug. 1 if more time is needed.
Spiderchain Processed 25M Transactions
Botanix launched Spiderchain mainnet after years of development. The network used an EVM-compatible execution layer and a dynamic federation structure to bring smart contracts and DeFi applications to Bitcoin.
The team said Spiderchain processed about 25 million transactions, reached about 200,000 wallets and saw tens of millions of dollars move across the chain. It also said the network ran for a year with 100% uptime and no security incidents.
Bitcoin DeFi Demand Stayed Too Narrow
Botanix said the product worked, but the market did not. The team said Bitcoin users remain more focused on BTC as a reserve asset and monetary tool than on using Bitcoin for programmable finance.
The company also said much of the real demand for Bitcoin-denominated DeFi sits on wrapped BTC products on networks such as Arbitrum. That left a dedicated Bitcoin L2 carrying higher security and infrastructure costs for a smaller group of use cases than Botanix needed.
Chain Fees Fell to $14 in 24 Hours
Low activity made fee revenue hard to rely on. DeFiLlama data showed Botanix with only $14 in 24-hour chain fees, $75 in 24-hour DEX volume and $4.4 million in bridged TVL.
That gap mattered because Botanix chose not to launch a token, run an airdrop or use points to create activity. The team said it wanted to test whether a Bitcoin-native chain could win users through real application demand instead of incentives.
Users Face July 1 Withdrawal Deadline
The shutdown leaves users with a limited window to remove funds from Botanix-linked applications and bridges. The company said that after the wind-down process, the federation will sweep remaining Bitcoin and Botanix Labs will begin dissolving.
Botanix did not cite a technical failure or exploit. It said the network is closing because demand was too weak to support the kind of Bitcoin programmability it had built.
